Jean coughed, then laughed. “Did you tell me to have my sweet hunk of a boyfriend go stalker sniff someone?”
“We need to know if she’s a ghoul.”
“We need to knowis code for you’re jealous of her spending time with Ryder, isn’t it?”
“No.”
Crow leaned over so his mouth was closer to my phone. “So jealous.”
“I don’t want to wake him up just because you’re being dumb, Delaney.”
I sighed. “I do want to know. I don’t like her but I need to make sure she’s not connected to the car or the ghoul. So far the only person in town who can even tell a ghoul is around is Hogan. I’m sorry to ask him to get up in the middle of his night, but she’s staying at the Sand Garden.
“Okay,” Jean said, easy and happy as always. “We’re paying him to advise us, right?”
“You just want that new video card.”
“Hey, a girl’s gotta game, and if he had a little more cash, he and I could slay the dragon together. Virtually. The real life dragons in town don’t need slaying.”
“Yes, we’ll pay him for his advisory time. Can he get out there tonight?”
“Sure. He might not be asleep yet. I’ll pick him up and swing by.”
“Thanks, Jean.”
I ended the call and flicked on my indicator lights. The streets were empty, and I knew even the main drag through town wouldn’t have all that many people on it. We had a bar and a brew pub and one diner that ran 24/7, but that was it. Even the tourists coming in to see the Ordinary Show Off event Saturday would be calling it a night, either walking the dark beach, or sitting out on balconies and decks enjoying the clean air, and the arc of stars thrown like loose change across the sky.
“Any more info about the door-drop of god weapons yet?” Crow asked as he fiddled with the heat.
“Why? Do you have something I need to know?”
“Oh, I have so many things, but you definitely do not need to know them,” he chuckled.
“About the weapons.”
He grinned, his smile bright in the darkness of the Jeep. Just like I’d thought, the main drag was nearly empty. I turned and started toward Ben and Jame’s house. I knew we were getting close to the full moon, and would need to tell the werewolves to be extra careful with shifting and running in their wolf form.
I could just go to Granny Wolfe’s house, the communal home of most of the werewolves in town and let her spread the word. But Jame and Ben’s place was closer. Since Jame was a Wolfe and Ben was a Rossi, I figured they could relay the info to the rest of the Wolfes.
“I’ve been thinking,” Crow said.
I waited. Crow was many things. A god. A trickster. A glass artist. My uncle, a friend—usually. But there were times when I was reminded that he was old. Very old.
This was one of those times.
He wasn’t pulling on his god power, but he was settled. Centered. Right now, he was as close to godly as I’d seen him in a long while.
“How can a god’s weapon be stolen? This may not surprise you, but it’s a puzzle I’ve worked over for many, many centuries. Each god realm is guarded by the god’s power, from the most minor god to the really big hitters.
“Possessions, knowledge, weapons are locked into those realms. They are an intricatepartof those realms, and cannot be easily separated from them. I would have said they can’t be taken without the god’s permission.”
“Would have?”
His finger lifted to the dash again, and this time he just dragged the tip of it across the leather, as if there were dust there and the trail he left behind held all the secrets of the world.
Air blew through the vents, stronger now that he’d messed with it, and I smelled the heat, and the sweet green of plants and flowers, the hint of a nearby wood fire.
They were familiar smells. They were smells that riveted my life into place.
